Desert days & Arabian nights

Towering sand dunes, camel rides, glamping under starry skies. What’s a trip to Morocco without a trip to the Sahara Desert?

It turns out, our dreamy 3-day desert trip was actually a 1,000 km road trip from Fes to Marrakech. The days were looong, but the trip was short. Maybe it’s because I recently visited Namibia, but everything felt laughably underwhelming, and this well traveled route seemed like one string of tourist gimmicks.

In comparison to the towering dunes in Sossusvlei, Merzouga looked more like a sandbox with its gentle slopes surrounded by roads and rocky terrain. The camel ride was interesting for the first few minutes before I started wondering much longer I’d be stuck entertaining our camel guide. And despite the nearly new moon, the stars were fainter than expected. Our overnight desert camp was delightfully swanky, but as half of the guests we also felt obligated to watch the rather uninspiring “local” Berber post-dinner performance.

It’s possible that there are some true gems we skipped over. But even with a private guide and the flexibility to customize our drive, there is no real standout experience for me. We did turn the forced fun into some genuinely funny and enjoyable moments and snapshots to prove we were there. Nevertheless, I’m reminding myself that I prefer slow travel and less mileage.

Photography by Cybil Zhang